Herbal Travels: Loire Valley, France

Reader Contribution by Lemon Verbena Lady
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You can check out the Lemon Verbena Lady at her bloghttp://lemonverbenalady.blogspot.com.

I’m always searching out herb gardens, herb lunches, herb dinners and herb plants when I’m traveling. Any combination of the above and I’m a happy herbal camper. (My idea of camping though is the Holiday Inn!) It gets a little annoying for The Herbal Husband. He has been known to find herbs for me to make me calm when I was frustrated by a bad travel day. When we were in the Loire Valley in France for our 20th anniversary trip, I found the most unusual herbs. Not because of what they were, but because of what was attached to them!

Yes, the French love their escargot and maybe if you add a little butter and garlic to the rosemary plant in the picture, it would make a wonderful dish!

I have fourlined plant bug problems here in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania and they are bad enough–but snails! In their defense, I must say that they have an attractive shell. I also found a snail on a fennel plant when we went to the Garden Festival of Chaumont-Sur-Loire.

They used snail shells to make an arrangement in one of the exhibits. See? They do have a purpose in life!

I guess I just like my herbs without the snails!

My final story is one of the perfect rosemary plant or hedge! Rosemary is a tender perennial for me in the Pittsburgh area. There are many of you that can grow it all-year-round without protection. You are very lucky people! It is like that in the Loire Valley.

We passed this hedge many times while we were visiting our friends. On our last day, I asked if we would pass it one last time so that I could take a picture of it. I got out of the car and pointed my camera and the owner came to see what was going on. Our friend went and introduced himself and explained to him in French that I loved his rosemary hedge. He gave me a big smileand was very pleased that I loved his rosemary.

Enjoy herbs (and a snail or two) in your life every day! 

  • Published on Jul 9, 2009
Tagged with: Reader Contributions
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